Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Xeron Brigs on July 24, 2011, 11:50:01 PM
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Hi,
I've been wanting to try some new BKPs in my Les Paul 2008 Standard. This will be my first experience with BKPs so I'm not quite sure what would be the best pickups for my needs.
I play in a Prog Metal band in the style of bands like Dream Theater, Queensryche and Porcupine Tree. I incorporate elements of Jazz, Funk, Thrash, Death, and Blues into my music as well. I tend to play in E Standard, but will also use Drop D, D Standard and Drop C fairly often.
I normally use the Bridge Pickup primarily for my high gain rhythm playing. I lean towards faster riffs with plenty of palm muting and pinch harmonics to make certain parts stand out. Tonally, I was thinking of getting a more modern polished sound, but still heavy sound; something like a mix of the heaviness of Matt Pike combined with the precision of John Petrucci. I was thinking of getting an Aftermath for this purpose as I like boosting my mids and I want to be able to get a very tight sound.
I use the neck pickup for both my clean and lead playing. I like my cleans with a slight mid scoop, slightly compressed, and with a bell-like quality with piano-like lows; something like Mark Knopfler. I like my leads to be more smooth and fluid like, a lot like Santana but with a bit of Rocky George's lead tone from "You Can't Bring Me Down" by Suicidal Tendencies. I'm not quite sure what to get for the neck, so I'll leave that to suggestions.
As for equipment, I run into a JoeMeek Optical Compressor (also functions as a clean boost), a modded Mesa/Boogie Stiletto Ace (more low end and mids than normal, and a bright switch on Channel 1), and finally into a Lexicon MPX100 that I use for either reverb or delay.
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Cold Sweat for the neck.
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Cold sweat set.
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Thanks for the suggestions so far!
Is there any specific reason for getting a Cold Sweat Set verses putting an Aftermath in the Bridge?
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As far as I know the Aftermath is a really dry pickup which might not suit the more mellow styles you're playing, but this is only stated from what I've read as I haven't tried the pickup myself. Like the others I'll say Cold Sweat neck either paired with a Cold Sweat bridge or a Nailbomb bridge.
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I've been listening to some sample clips based on the suggestions, and I think I will go with the Cold Sweat in the Neck and a Nailbomb in the bridge.
After checking out the Nailbombs, I noticed they are available in either Alnico or Ceramic. Personally, I liked the sound of the Alnico V better from the samples I heard, but I know plenty of people recommend the Ceramics for Metal. I'm planning on ordering the Alnico, but I just want to see about getting some feedback before doing so.
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Follow your gut. Order cold sweat neck & A5 nailbomb bridge.
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After checking out the Nailbombs, I noticed they are available in either Alnico or Ceramic. Personally, I liked the sound of the Alnico V better from the samples I heard, but I know plenty of people recommend the Ceramics for Metal. I'm planning on ordering the Alnico, but I just want to see about getting some feedback before doing so.
I guess one of the reasons ceramics get recommanded for metal is tightness, and I can tell you the ABomb bridge is definitly not lacking in this area.
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I've been listening to some sample clips based on the suggestions, and I think I will go with the Cold Sweat in the Neck and a Nailbomb in the bridge.
I know both pickups, and even though I have not tried them as a set they should be good for what you want to achieve.
Cheers Stephan
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The Nailbomb/Cold Sweat set will definitely work for what you want.
Personally I'd be inclined to go for a set of Emeralds though - they're a criminally underrated pickup in the range/ Think of them as a bright and tight hot PAF set. Their lean low end keeps things very tight under high gain, while the open voicing gives excellent clarity and works exceptionally well for lower gain and clean tones as well. The neck pickup gives more power and compression than a regular PAF, but the AIV magnet means it retains a very balanced voicing that will happily cover everything from pure vintage cleans to modern shred.
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I've been thinking of a set of Emeralds for a Les Paul Traditional myself. It's a very dark sounding guitar, and I'm looking for something to make her come alive. It's a choice between Rebel Yells and Emeralds at the moment.
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I would not use a Emerald neck in a dark guitar! I would go for a Riff Raff.
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I would not use a Emerald neck in a dark guitar! I would go for a Riff Raff.
Really? From the tonechart, it would seem the Emerald has plenty of highs, no?
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I would not use a Emerald neck in a dark guitar! I would go for a Riff Raff.
Really? From the tonechart, it would seem the Emerald has plenty of highs, no?
If I remember correctly the tone chart refers to the bridge models.
Cheers Stephan
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I would not use a Emerald neck in a dark guitar! I would go for a Riff Raff.
Really? From the tonechart, it would seem the Emerald has plenty of highs, no?
If I remember correctly the tone chart refers to the bridge models.
Cheers Stephan
Correct.
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OK, but I would assume the neck pickup has the same aural signature.
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OK, but I would assume the neck pickup has the same aural signature.
Mmm... The Crawler neck and bridge, while complementary and well matched, are rather different beasts.
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OK, but I would assume the neck pickup has the same aural signature.
As BigB says, the calibrated sets are designed to be well matched in output and have complimentary tones (not necessarily just covering the same ground in term of voicing).
In the case of the Emerald, the neck's AIV magnet and fairly hot wind does give it a rounder sound than the bright and punchy bridge unit, but I personally wouldn't shy away from using it in a dark guitar - it's still a clear and open voiced pickup that will translate plenty of high end content (just my opinion of course)
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I'd go with the alnico nailbomb bridge/cold sweat neck set
MAYBE the ceramic version, only because I like ceramics better through Stilettos and Rectifiers
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I'm not looking for a high output pickup for this particular guitar. The tone I'm after is, well, classic Thin Lizzy...
The Classic 57's in the guitar are useless to me. Too woolly.
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I'm not looking for a high output pickup for this particular guitar. The tone I'm after is, well, classic Thin Lizzy...
The Classic 57's in the guitar are useless to me. Too woolly.
How about the Emerald bridge with an Abraxas neck? That should brighten up your dark guitar.
Cheers Stephan
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Riff Raffs or Black Dogs
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I've made some modifications to my current amp setup by adding a small 1x12 cabinet with an Eminence Wizard speaker in it, and it seems to have move my tone much closer to what I want. I am still thinking of getting that set of BKPs I mentioned, but would like to gather a little bit more information on them and see how they compare to my current pickups (Bursbucker Pro set).
Specifically, I would like to know if the A-Bomb in the bridge will add more upper-mids than my current Burstbucker Pro setup and how well they respond to changes in the tone and volume knob on my guitar.
Also, are they capable of creating convincing vintage style tones in addition to more of a modern sound?
Thanks!
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From what I heard I don't connect the Nailbomb to vintage tones, to me it sounds like 90's metal, but there are enough users on the forum that can give a better comment on that.
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From what I heard I don't connect the Nailbomb to vintage tones, to me it sounds like 90's metal, but there are enough users on the forum that can give a better comment on that.
Fair enough. Still, I tend to use the bridge for more modern sounding distorted tones anyhow.
I've been looking over the differences between a Cold Sweat and Emerald Neck. I know that plenty love the Cold Sweat for the shred-solo thing, but I also primarily use the neck for my clean tone. How does the Cold Sweat compare to an Emerald in regards to the cleans?
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I was recommended the Nailbomb as "bridging the gap between classic and modern metal" or something to that effect. Ordered a set, I'll post my findings once they are installed.